Sushi Roku

went last weekend, great FOOD, great setting. the waitress was little pushy in recommending higher price items, don’t get me wrong it was great choices. will revisit again for sure.

This place is good for happy hour but based off of their menu I wouldn’t really say they’re a sushi place; they seem more like a seafood place that sells some sushi rolls.

They know how to take reservations. They then know to tell you when you arrive that they are setting up your table. Unfortunately that’s where it ends. They do not know how to keep the reservation. They aren’t that great at lying either.
Great food. Terrible customer service unfortunately. Thankfully there are plenty of great food choices within walking distance.

Sushi Roku WAS delicious. It is a classy and beautiful restaurant– perfect vibe for dinner and definitely romantic. We came in a group of 5 with reservations we made a few hours earlier on a Friday night. We got seated right away at a table. I’m picking about sushi– so I was definitely impressed.
We got bottles of the Asahi beer and you only need one bottle if you want to share it and keep it light. Everything was delicious– fried rice, short ribs, baked lobster, and the yellowtail, salmon, and tuna sashimi. You can’t go wrong– but I would also go with what you’re somewhat familiar with because the flavors are very strong– but I liked it!
Ended the night with chocolate molten cake– and yes– this place is pricey. But if you love your sushi and want a upscale environment– this is a perfect restaurant!

Did a walk-​in at Roku just before heading to the airport. Really enjoyed the sushi here, so much that I may have to reconsider my ratings on some of my Houston favorites.
Started out with the albacore sashimi, which came topped with fried onions and garlic ponzu — very tasty. The toppings certainly overwhelmed the tuna a bit, but this was fine for a starter. A sushi sampler was very nice across the board, though the yellowtail was possibly my favorite. Finished with a mango sorbet that ended things well.
Don’t come here for the atmosphere — particularly given the location and the prices, this place is pretty low-​key (which is fine by me). Service was very good, though the crowd when we visited was very light and thus not a challenge for the staff.

I’m not a big sushi person but i thought this place was great! Had the braised short ribs and Gyoza pot-​stickers! Both very tasty! It’s really trendy with beautiful people coming in and out and location right on ocean blvd. Good drinks and nice bar area! My friend said the spicy tuna was some of the best she had! I would repeat and come here again!

I have been serving/​bartending for over 3 years now so I am normally keep an open mindset when dining out. Except for my experience at Sushi Roku. This was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had.
On Wednesday March 18^th my aunt, sister, and I had dinner here. We were greeted by our server and because we were so hungry we ordered right away. We ordered three rolls of sushi one being the Tora Roll. We asked our waitress if the roll was spicy and she replied «no not at all.» When the Tora roll came out we noticed that there was wasabi root on it (our mistake because it was printed in the menu.) After telling the manager who ran the food that we did not want anything spicy and that we would have the same roll except no wasabi root he went to change it for us. Not before he told our server about it first.
About a foot away I saw and heard our server say «what? that isn’t spicy at all. they aren’t even going to try it…» from then on out of server kept talking about us. she was a FOOT away I could here everything she was saying! I had never been treated so poorly at a restaurant. I will never dine here or any of your resturants

My friend and I were deciding on where to eat. I was trying to recommend him to try true foods kitchen and he was recommending me this place. He seemed really set on having sushi that night so we ended up going here and we decided to go to true foods kitchen next time.
First of all the sushi here was not good, but very expensive. The prices are actually quite similar to that of Nobu, just without the quality and the view. I felt a bit sick after eating here. We ordered a variety of cold and hot dishes and nothing was too spectacular for the prices.
Our service was pretty slow and whenever we would ask our waitress for recommendations when we were trying to decide between two different things, we noticed that she just kept recommending the more expensive dishes. She had no actual personal thought or preference when we asked. There are many better sushi restaurants out there at much more reasonable prices.

They have some dishes that are just Amazing… but even the non-​amazing ones are very good !
Their Spicy tuna is the BEST I have ever eaten… and I did try it in OVER 100 sushi places around the country. I always start with Spicy Tuna cut roll and end up with Spicy tuna Hand roll… their’s was the best — and I think the secret was that it WAS actually «spicy»… loved it !!
But really everything we ordered was such great — Service was great as well — I would definitely add this place to my «Favorites List» and visit them once a month !
I would have given them 5 stars — and probably would have visited them much more often — UNLESS their prices were so high…
I never paid $ 10 for a Spicy Tuna… but even their Miso soup was double what we usually pay… Their Salmon dishes were a bit more expensive than other places we visit regularly.
TOO EXPENSIVE to go every week… our bill, for the same items, is usually about 20% lower… in all our other Favorites.
Owner: reduction in price might give you MORE regulars.
You have great Sushi — but with Great Price will come even more success… :)
Now, I know the location is probably part of the reason for the high prices… it’s not a cheap place to be — on the Beach of Santa Monica…
But I am paying for the food… it’s not like I get an Ocean view from where I sit…
All in all — GREAT place for Sushi… if you don’t mind paying a bit more !
Once a month — I don’t mind… :)

My favorite sushi in L.A. area. Perfect ambiance and superb location. The sushi doesn’t need any praises it represents its excellence.
I prefer inside seating rather than patio.

Service was okay. Food was okay. The Tab for 2 people was $ 150! Worth it? Eh not really worth $ 150!

While wandering around Santa Monica, we decided to find a place to try west coast sushi. We happened upon this restaurant, checked out the menu and decoded to give it a try. The menu was somewhat limited and kind of interesting, but the quality was good and the atmosphere was cosy. We started with charred Brussel sprouts and they were ok. We weren’t too hungry so got a Makoto Roll to test it out with the intent of ordering more if we were wowed. It was good, not great, but good. Our server was a little slow so by the time we had decided to order more, she was no where to be found. We told her our plan to try then order more but either she was too busy or didn’t understand, but nonetheless, too slow so we didn’t order more. Oh well. Probably wouldn’t go back, but it was a nice experience.

Server was upbeat and offered great recommendations
Blue fin sashimi, salmon carpaccio, katana roll, wagyu beef skewers, and the crab roll with mango curry.
The salmon carpaccio was amazing. I ate every bite. It was a tad bit salty for me, it had a heavy effect rather than being light and refreshing (also had olive oil, so that may be the culprit) but the medley of flavors worked perfectly.
The sashimi was packed with flavor and sliced perfectly. My favorite though was the wagyu skewers. You could taste the tangy marinade and they were so tender.
Least favorite was the crab roll with mango curry. The curry overpowered all the flavor profiles so all I could taste was heat.
Dessert was a sweet treat. We got the crime brûlée and green tea ice cream.

Not sure why I haven’t been here before I’ve eaten at every restaurant on the block. This sushi restaurant touts itself to be as good as Nobu? I must say they have a very impressive menu and the place was busy with happy hipster beautiful people.
They also announce the traditional Japanese greeting «Irassaimase» as your are walked to your dinner table. The rest of the staff is to yell that phrase out loudly in unison. That part did not happen, so everyone is looking at the gorgeous hostess like she has turrets.
So I had the Fluke Kumquat Sashimi, this is a absolutely fantastic dish. Well balanced and just delicious. The Tuna Spring Rolls, Shrimp Steamed Dumplings and Wagyu Potstickers were all just ok. Don’t get me wrong I could give you a long detailed list of flavor profiles but that a bit of a waste.
The sushi was great especially the Toro Tuna, very fatty and melted in your mouth. This is worth coming in for. Not many restaurants carry Tuna of this quality.
The reason I didn’t rate this experience any better than a three star was the overall quality, consistency and cost was rather unbalance. I have never had an issue with spending top dollar for a great meal. This unfortunately was a good meal at a high price.

Family was in town so I wanted to take them to a nice restaurant in Santa Monica. Walked by Sushi Roku and saw Nash (the Manager) taking pics of the most amazing looking spring rolls and crab cakes. I asked «Where is that on the menu?!» He said that we aren’t launching these items until tomorrow. Disappointed I almost walked away until he offered to make them for us! NOW THAT IS GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE. They were delicious (pics below) and so was the rest of the food there. Shout out to our hilarious and sweet server Sean.
I’ll be back boys!

Made it in time for happy hour (4 – 6:30 daily!). Ordered the two Martinis (roku fusion and apple). Both were very sweet but super refreshing! Also ordered the spicy salmon hanabi and popcorn shrimp ceviche. Wow I’ve never had anything like the hanabi before. basically like sushi except the rice is fried on the outside! Very unique and worth trying. Wish I had ordered the other ones but we ran out of time. The popcorn shrimp ceviche is also unique because it’s fried! Cannot wait to come back for happy hour again!

Sushi Fusion located by the beach.
Being in Santa Monica, it only made sense to at least eat something seafood and what is a better type of seafood than sushi and sashimi?
The ambiance of this place is great. Very trendy and relaxing. The servers are laid back and very chill. One big gripe and surprise was they did not have their own bathroom and had shared with the building. The bathroom was not very nice and the upkeep is a bit lacking.
Menu choices were sufficient but I expected a bit more from them. Each item was quite pricey but I’m guessing it’s «Santa Monica price». Many of the item options were cooked items as well. I expected to see more raw fish selection and sashimi choices. The rolls were good but small. The fish were scarce and it was fair.
I would have reservations about coming back again. I like more Japanese sushi and sashimi be more than this place can offer.

I was skeptical about to coming to this location based on the reviews, but after being blasted my friends on how she already mentioned that she loves sushi and the beach, and that the map has already been laid out and spelled out for me. Why complicate things and just take her to sushi at the beach. Yeah I had options in Malibu but I had other things planned out. So Sushi Roku on Ocean it was. Here is where mixed reviews can mess you up. Some elitist said it’s more romantic inside than out, something about a glimmer of the sea outdoors … Another said great date place … Here is the real scoop:
AMBIANCE: 2 stars
It’s LOUD — it’s frighin LOUD! If I didn’t quite enjoy the view in front of me, I would have asked to be moved outdoors. But naw that would mean my date putting her jacket on or covering up and if I had to chose between noise or a view — let’s just say I am more visual than acoustical.
FOOD: 4 stars
I couldn’t remember what we ordered — but in true Roku Fashion everything was fresh, the timing of dishes was great and the presentation was at par. And yes I had moments where I had to fight the urge
bust out my phone to take pictures… But that was after a few cocktails and I refocussed.
SERVICE: 2 stars
The hostess is not the mostest. As I arrived for the rezzie, she was taking an order for a couple who wanted to be seated at the bar. And well, instead of giving them a minute to go thru the menu and select their dishes and seat us. She decided that she would rather play waiter and make us wait so that we could block the entrance while we over heard this couple, order and change their mind, ask questions… Seriously? If wanted you to be a waitress apply for that job — but if you’re gonna be hostess — act like one and prioritize that first. It’s called table turn over. The faster we get seated, the faster that table gets turned.
Should anyone ever take a date here? NO! Go elsewhere. The music is so loud it gives the place more of a bar atmosphere first and a restaurant second. Let the tourists enjoy this place… Matsuhisa, Nobu … Are much better picks for locals at a similar price points… And naw I’m never listening to my buddies again… Simple can be stupid.

Overrated sushi restaurant.
There is a distinction to be made by the fish quality served here but not enough to offset the 2−3x price difference from a normal sushi bar. Freshness is something you will receive but not on such a noticeable level that the food will taste unbelievably mind-​blowing.
Of the dishes we ordered the premium tuna belly (toro) sushi is the only one we found to be worth the price tag of 9 dollars a bite. We’ve had Toro before but never one that just melted in our mouths. It was so soft and delicate we couldn’t believe such a thing existed. Suffice to say it made everything else pale in comparison. Luckily we saved it for last as it would’ve made every other sushi afterwards a sad substitute for the first.
Every hand roll and cut just seemed to be a buy above average with no real amazing taste to any other sushi restaurant. The King Crab Fried Rice was also pretty good.
The service was decent. Not too amazingly out of the way but I’m not a very demanding person.
I will be back for the Toro:)

Two Words: Katana’s Competition
Sushi Roku and Katana are both owned by Innovative Dining Group (IDG), but I receive notably different experiences. Katana is hyped up and Sushi Roku is undervalued. They have similar menus and the waitress claims that they have the same food supplier.
Sushi Roku has a different vibe. I can actually see the pier and the amazing ocean views from where I sit. Their sushi is fresh (unlike Katana) and food comes out in a timely manner. Notable eats: Fluke Sashimi, Toro Sashimi and Jidori Chicken Skewers.
Service is exceptional and I enjoyed conversing with my waitress. Beautiful location and great place to people watch while enjoying fine foods and a great selection of wine ;)